Ending several months of speculation, Harris Corporation has finally declared that it will sell its Broadcast Communications arm to an affiliate of The Gores Group, LLC, a Los Angeles based firm for US $225 million. The price includes $160 million in cash at closing, a $15 million subordinated promissory note and an earnout of up […]
Ending several months of speculation, Harris Corporation has finally declared that it will sell its Broadcast Communications arm to an affiliate of The Gores Group, LLC, a Los Angeles based firm for US $225 million. The price includes $160 million in cash at closing, a $15 million subordinated promissory note and an earnout of up to $50 million based on future performance. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory review and closing conditions and is expected to be completed in early calendar year 2013. On May 1, 2012, Harris had announced plans to divest its Broadcast Communications arm.
“The sale of Broadcast Communications reflects our strategy to optimise our business portfolio and focus on our core businesses,” stated William M. Brown, President and Chief Executive Officer of Harris.
“As previously communicated, we plan to repurchase up to $200 million of our shares after the deal closes. This is in addition to the $200 million of share repurchases already planned for fiscal 2013 and reflects our ongoing commitment to effectively deploy capital, including returning cash to shareholders,” he added.
Ryan Wald, Managing Director of The Gores Group added: “In Harris Broadcast Communications, we are investing in a proven technology leader with great products and a great team. We are excited to provide the capital and support to transition this division to a strong and independent company further enabling it to continue developing and delivering market leading technologies to its customers.”
It is not known whether the broadcast arm will be rebranded although it was indicated at IBC that the brand name would be retained. No further details are presently available about the status of employees at Broadcast Communications.
